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Explaining Access to Executive Leadership in UN Agencies

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Women's Access, Representation and Leadership in the United Nations

Part of the book series: Gender and Politics ((GAP))

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Abstract

The norm of gender equality within the UN system was not a contested one and broadly welcomed; thus, today, women in the United Nations are standing on firmer floors. Yet, access and representation have been uneven across professional levels, agencies and portfolios, highlighting institutional differences. Drawing on Eagly’s and Carli’s (2007) concept of a ‘labyrinth’, this chapter shows that women face not just one single barrier that can be neatly summarised as ‘the glass ceiling’ but encounter several barriers that eventually channel them into specific areas of work. This leaves some organisations male-dominated, whilst others have been led by several women. Focussing on women in executive roles in UN funds, programmes and specialised agencies, and drawing on research in political science and business studies, this chapter shows how the various dimensions of this labyrinth shape women’s access to UN executive leadership. Analysing four areas of difference—candidates’ backgrounds, institutional selection and appointment processes, institutional characteristics, and political circumstances surrounding selection processes—the chapter shows that breaking the glass ceiling is not just a question of their numerical increase; instead, women’s career movement is limited both vertically and horizontally.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Not included are executive heads of agencies whose remit is limited to a specific region, such as the five Regional Commissions, heads of departments in the UN Secretariat (e.g. the Department of Peacekeeping Operations) and members of the various legal courts.

  2. 2.

    Unusually, the WFP Executive Director is appointed by agreement between the Secretary-General and the FAO Director-General, in consultation with the WFP Executive Board, given that WFP was established as a subsidiary body to both the UN and the FAO.

  3. 3.

    The role was held by Jonathan Cohen in acting capacity from January to September 2019.

  4. 4.

    The question of glass walls within UN treaty bodies and Special Procedures is less certain than in international tribunals, where they clearly exist. Women’s representation is highest on committees such as that on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (96%), and the Committee on the Rights of the Child (61%). Yet, no discernible pattern emerges between committees, as more than half (52%) of members of the Committee on the Prevention of Torture are women, yet women’s representation remains low on the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (17%).

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  1. Department of Social Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

    Kirsten Haack

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Correspondence to Kirsten Haack .

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Haack, K. (2022). Explaining Access to Executive Leadership in UN Agencies. In: Women's Access, Representation and Leadership in the United Nations. Gender and Politics. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-83537-8_4

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